Renovating machine for building facades



Feb. 13, 1934. M BHTERBAUM 1,947,286

RENOVA'IING MACHINE FOR BUILDING FACADES Filed May 20 19:51 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 13, 1934. M. BITTERBAUM RENOVATING MACHINE FORBUILDING FACADES Filed May 20. 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTO ?atented Feb.13, 1934 EFNITED STATES PATENT o Fic Mortimer Bitterbaum, New York, N.Y.

Application May 20, 1931. Serial No. 538,767

1'7 Claims.

This invention relates to a machine for renovating facades of buildings.Heretofore all renovating work upon facades, such as washing, scrubbing,sand-blasting, etc., was performed by the utilization of scaffolding,and operatives doing the work manually or with the aid of suitableimplements or devices while supported on the scaffolding, whichcharacter of work is well known to be dangerous, arduous, timeconsuming, costly, and often inefiicient.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a machine wherewithsuch work may be performed entirely automatically, without the use ofscaffolding, and with an operative merely positioning the machine uponthe building and adjusting it for the particular service required.

Another object is to provide a machine for such purpose, which willperform the renovating work conveniently, rapidly, economically,efliciently, and with perfect safety.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 shows a side elevation of the machine.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the machine.

The renovating machine 1 is positioned for its operation upon the roof 2of a building 3 adjacent its parapet 4. Said machine includes abase-frame 5 having suitable casters 6 for conveniently propelling themachine to its required position. To the frame 5 are secured posts '7having mounted therein bearings 8 for an axle 9 of a rotatable sheave 10carrying a pair of suitable hoisting cables 11. The posts 7 carrycantilever beams 12 which project therefrom over the facade of thebuilding, and in the intersection of said posts and beams and near theextremities of the latter are mounted conveying pulleys 13, 14, asshown. From the sheave 10 the cables 11 are conveyed upwardly to thepulleys 13, over to the pulley 14, and from the latter the cables aresuspended toward the sidewalk and in front of the facade 15 of thebuilding. Upon the terminals of the cables 11 is suspended, by means ofrings 16, a framing 17 carrying a motor 18, to the shaft of which isfastened a chuck 19 to which is removably clutched a wire brush 20, orany other suitable cleaning or renovating device. To the rear side ofthe motor is secured a framing 21, to which are tied a pair ofsupporting cables 22 that are in turn spliced to the cables 11 at 23,whereby the motor 18 and brush 20 are sustained in steadied horizontaland vertical positions respectively, and the brush 20 is properlyaligned with the facade. A crank 24 and ratchet gear 25 are keyed uponthe axle 9, and a coopcrating pawl 26 for said gear is carried by a.bracket 27 secured to one of the posts '7, by which means the sheave 10may be rotated to elevate, lower, and maintain at any required positionthe motor 18 with the brush 20.

As certain mate-rials are often required to be used in conjunction withrenovating processes, such as abrasives, cleansers, sand-blasts, etc.,or such mediums as compressed air or liquid, the same may be fed to thework from the roof through a hose 28, which passes over conveyingrollers 29, mounted in the posts '7 and beams 12, and is provided with anozzle 30 located over and near to the brush 20. In order to retain thenozzle 30 at its proper working location, the terminal of the hosepasses through a hole 31a of a clustering plate 31, through another hole31?) of which also pass the cables 11, which plate thus binds the nozzleto said cables and holds it in requisite proximity to the work. Forfeeding current to the motor 18, an electric cable 32 is similarlyconveyed from the roof, over rollers 33 mounted in the posts '7 andbeams 12, through a hole 31p of the plate 31, and to the motor.

The posts 7 are split at 34, and channelled extension-plates 35, havingslots 36, are joined thereto by bolts 37 that pass through said slotsand thread into the posts, in which manner the beams 12 and conveyingpulleys 13, 14 may be adjusted to any'elevated or lowered positionrelatively to any obstructing parapet 4. In the same manner the beams 12are split at 38, and are similarly provided with slotted channelledplates 39 and bolts 40, for laterally adjusting the distance betweenpulleys 13, 14 to clear the suspension cables 11 of any cornice or otheroverhanging projection upon the facade of the building. The motor-shaft31 is split at 42, and a sleeve 43 telescopes thereover and is securedthereto with setscrews 44 that thread therethrough and against the shaftportions, in which manner the shaft 41 may be adjusted in longitudinalextension to any increase or decrease of distance that may be requiredbetween the cables 11 and the facade 15 or the face of the brush 20, dueto any overhanging obstruction upon the facade.

When renovating work is to be performed upon a building, the machine ispositioned upon the roof against its parapet 4, the height andextensions of beam 12 and pulleys 13, 14 are adjusted with the bolts 37,40 to conform to prevailing conditions, the current is turned on torotate the brush 20, and the requisite material is fed to the nozzle 30.While the brush is thus working with said material to renovate thetopmost initial portion of the facade it may be gradually loweredtogether with the motor and nozzle toward the sidewalk, by turning ofthe crank 24, and thereby advanced to renovate a vertical band or areacorresponding to the height of the building. Thereafter the brush andits appurtenances may be hoisted back to the top of the building and theentire machine shifted laterally so as to bring the face of the brushagainst a portion of the facade adjacent to the swath thereof lastrenovated, and the machine may be then again operated to renovate anadjacent similar area of the facade. In this manner the work may becontinued until the renovation of the entire building'is completed. Theextent of working pressure of the-brush 20 against the facade may beregulated by placing the machine nearer to or farther from the parapet4.

A rope 45, secured to the framing 21, as shown, is suspended therefromto the sidewalk, where it may be grasped by an operative, while themachine is performing the working operation, to therewith control theprecise placement of the brush upon the facade, or to skip any requiredareas thereof, due to location of windows or other obstructions of thebuilding.

Variations may be resorted to within the scope of the invention, andportions of the improvements may be used without others.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim:--

1. A renovating machine for building facades having the combination of aportable cable hoisting mechanism adapted to be positioned upon andtransportable over the roof of a building, said mechanism having meansto convey the cable therefrom to the front of the facade of thebuilding, a motor suspended by said cable, and a renovating devicesustained by said cable and operated by said motor.

2. A renovating machine for building facades having the combination of aportable cable hoisting mechanism adapted to be positioned upon andtransportable over the roof of a building, said mechanism having meansto convey the cable therefrom to the front of the facade of thebuilding, a motor suspended by said cable, a renovating device sustainedby said cable and operated by said motor, and means sustained by saidcable for steadying said motor and device.

3. A renovating machine for building facades having the combination ofcable hoisting mechanism for location upon the roof of a building, meansto convey the cable from said mechanism to the facade of the building, amotor suspended by said cable, a renovating device operated by saidmotor, and a rope suspended from said motor for manually controlling itslocation.

4. A renovating machine for building facades having the combination of aportable cable hoisting mechanism adapted to be positioned upon andtransportable over the roof of a building, said mechanism having meansto convey the cable therefrom to the front of the facade of thebuilding, a motor suspended by said cable, a renovating device sustainedby said cable and operated by said motor, and a carriage for saidmechanism.

5. A renovating machine for building facades having the combination ofcable hoisting mecha nism for location upon the roof of a building,means to convey the cable from said mechanism to the facade of thebuilding including pulleys, means to adjust the elevation of saidpulleys, a

motor suspended by said cable, and a renovating device operated by saidmotor.

6. A renovating machine for building facades having the combination ofcable hoisting mechanism for location upon the roof of a building, meansto convey the cable from said mechanism to the facade of the buildingincluding pulleys, means to adjust the lateral distance between saidpulleys, a motor suspended by said cable, and a renovating deviceoperated by said motor.

'7. A renovating machine for building facades having the combination ofcable hoisting mechanismfor location upon the roof of a building, meansto convey the cable from said mechanism to the facade of the buildingincluding pulleys, means to adjust the elevation of said pulleys, meansto adjust the distance between said pulleys, a motor suspended by saidcable, and a renovating device operated by said motor.

8. A renovating machine for building facades having the combination ofcable hoisting mechanism for location upon the roof of a building, meansto convey the cable from said mechanism to the facade of the buildingincluding pulleys,

means to adjust the elevation of said pulleys,

means to adjust the distance between said pulleys, a motor suspended bysaid cable, a renovating device operated by said motor, and meanssustained by said cable for steadying said motor and device.

10. A renovating machine for building facades having the combination ofcable hoisting mechanism for location upon the roof of a building, meansto convey the cable from said mechanism to the facade of the building, amotor suspended by said cable, a renovating device operated by saidmotor, and means for adjusting the distance laterally between said cableand said device.

11. A renovating machine for building facades having the combination ofcable hoisting mechanism for location upon the roof of a building, meansto convey the cable from said mechanism to the facade of the buildingincluding pulleys, means to adjust the elevation of said pulleys, amotor suspended by said cable, a renovating device operated by saidmotor, and means for ad- 1 justing the distance laterally between saidcable and said device.

12. A renovating machine for building facades having the combination ofcable hoisting mechanism for location upon the roof of a building, 1means to convey the cable from said mechanism to the facade of thebuilding including pulleys, means to adjust the elevation of saidpulleys, a motor suspended by said cable, a renovating device operatedby said motor, means for adjust- 1 ing the distance laterally betweensaid cable and said device, and means sustained by said cable forsteadying said motor and device.

13. A renovating machine for building facades having the combination ofa portable cable hoist- 1 ing mechanism adapted to be positioned uponand transportable over the roof of a building, said mechanism havingmeans to convey the cable therefrom to the front of the facade of thebuilding, a motor suspended by said cable, a 1

renovating device sustained by said cable and operated by said motor,and means to feed renovating material to said device.

14. A renovating machine for building facades having the combination ofa portable cable hoisting mechanism adapted to be positioned upon andtransportable over the roof of a building, said mechanism having meansto convey the cable therefrom to the front of the facade of thebuilding, a motor suspended by said cable, a renovating device sustainedby said cable and operated by said motor, means to feed renovatingmaterial to said device including a nozzle, and means to retain saidnozzle at said device.

15. A renovating machine for building facades having the combination ofa portable cable hoisting mechanism adapted to be positioned upon andtransportable over the roof of a building, said mechanism having meansto convey the cable therefrom to the front of the facade of thebuilding, a motor suspended by said cable, a renovating device sustainedby said cable and operated by said motor, means to feed renovatingmaterial to said device including a hose, and means to convey said hosefrom the roof to the facade of the building.

16. A renovating machine for building facades having the combination ofa portable cable hoisting mechanism adapted to be positioned upon andtransportable over the roof of a building, said mechanism having meansto convey the cable therefrom to the front of the facade of thebuilding, a motor suspended by said cable, a renovating device sustainedby said cable and operated by said motor, means to feed renovatingmaterial'to said device including a hose and nozzle, means to conveysaid hose from the roof to the facade of the building, and means toretain said nozzle at said device.

17. A renovating machine for building facades having the combination ofa portable cable hoisting mechanism adapted to be positioned upon andtransportable over the roof of a building, said mechanism having meansto convey the cable therefrom to the front of the facade of thebuilding, a motor suspended by said cable, a renovating device sustainedby said cable and operated by said motor, and means for steadying thepositions of said device relatively to the plane of the facade.

MORTIMER BIT'IERBAUM.

